or by purchasing a CD-ROM product! See the attached press release for
details and ordering information, or order now at
http://www.redhat.com/,
(888) RED-HAT1, (919) 572-6500, or (919) 572-6726 (fax).

January 28, 1997

Durham, NC -- Red Hat Software, Inc. is pleased to
announce the
availability of Red Hat Linux release 4.1 for Intel, Alpha and SPARC
computers. This is the only synchronized release of the Linux
operating system for these three platforms, and represents a huge leap
in reducing your administrative and support costs for your
heterogeneous network. This release builds on Red Hat Linux 4.0,
which was the 1996 Desktop OS of the Year according to InfoWorld
Magazine.

NEW FEATURES IN RED HAT LINUX 4.1

Modular 2.0.27 kernel.
One kernel for all hardware, support for much more hardware (including
the Backpack CD-ROM!) Kernel is distributed as an RPM package (on
Intel and SPARC). This means that to upgrade the kernel you only need
to upgrade the kernel RPM package, which is just a single command.
Only one installation floppy!
Two for PCMCIA and FTP installs.
Both floppies are included in the Official Red Hat Linux/Intel
boxed set product.
Easier installation.
Smarter network configuration with bootp support, NFS mounts (share
/usr between machines, for example).
New version of RPM.
RPM 2.3 includes dependencies, improved PGP/MD5/size signature
capability, verify scripts, shared NFS mounts.
Improved X Windows support.
XFree86 3.2 supports more cards (including Matrox and #9 Imagine cards),
with better acceleration. Easier X Windows configuration. Just pick
your video card and monitor from the provided lists and you are done.
Latest MetroLink X server 3.1.2 (Only available with the Official
Red Hat Linux/Intel boxed set.)
Expanded Red Hat Linux User's Guide.
250 pages of installation and configuration information. Rewritten
installation chapter is more readable than ever. Expanded coverage
of the control-panel tools, including the new network, user/group,
and printer tools. Covers basics and configuration of PAM security
architecture. Includes MetroLink X server configuration information.
The User's Guide is now available via FTP under the same terms
as the LDP documentation; it is also browsable on our web site!
Improved network configuration.
New graphical network configuration control panel tool. Allows for
simple configuration of PPP and SLIP network connections. Makes it
simple to move your machine between networks, add ethernet cards, etc.
Updated Control Panel Tools
In addition to the new network configuration tool, the user and group
configuration tool has been rewritten, the printer tool has been
reworked for simpler configuration.
Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM).
New version of PAM, 0.54, is used throughout for increased system
security and configurability. Shadow password support and other
authentication schemes (including beta version of "long" passwords,
MD5 passwords, radius, and more).
PAM is now covered in the User's Guide.
New Version of Red Baron secure web browser.
Red Baron 3.1 supports forms, frames, SSL, SET. Faster than Netscape!
(Only available on Official Red Hat Linux/Intel boxed set.)
Sun's Java Development Kit
JDK 1.0.2 now ships with Red Hat Linux/Intel.
New glibc for Red Hat Linux/Alpha
The new version of glibc includes support for NIS.
Upgrades and Fixes.
GCC 2.7.2.1, XFree86 3.2, Tcl/Tk 7.6/4.2, tetex 0.4 (LaTeX 2e, June 1996)
Over 100 updated packages, and 21 new packages. The full package
listings are available at
http://www.redhat.com/linux-info/pkglist/.
Many security fixes and bug fixes -- most of which are not shipping
with other UNIX/Linux systems.
New Price on Alpha and SPARC
The price for the Alpha and SPARC versions has been lowered to $49.95!

FEATURES OF RED HAT LINUX 4.1

Installation

Our third generation installation system is easier to use than ever.
By presenting simple fill-in-the-blank forms, and applying intelligent
automation to network, package, and module configuration, the system
relieves you of the most tedious and most troublesome aspects of
installation. Installation is supported via CD-ROM, NFS, FTP, hard
drive partition, and has seamless PCMCIA support.

Package Management

The RPM package system is designed to be powerful yet easy to use.
These design features, along with smart config file handling across
package upgrades, "shared" file handling, documentation searching
support, package installation via FTP, dependencies, and powerful
querying, make RPM the most advanced package system available.
With our graphical package manager Glint you can track every package
installed on your system, and all packages available on the CD-ROM.
You can examine package descriptions and file contents before you
install them. With a few mouse button clicks you can install,
uninstall, list and verify all installed packages. No other
installation system comes close.

Configuration Tools

The Red Hat control panel tools cover configuration of your network,
printer, filesystem, users and groups, SysV init, time and date, and
modem. PPP and SLIP configuration has never been easier!

Compatibility between Linux Platforms

The Red Hat Linux 4.1 for Intel, Alpha and SPARC products are built
from the exact same source packages. This ensures maximum ease of
software portability between machines running Red Hat Linux regardless
of the underlying hardware architecture. In addition, your investment
in configuration of Red Hat Linux will pay off on all three platforms.

License Terms

Red Hat Linux is distributed under the terms of the GPL, and is freely
available from our FTP site, and dozens of mirrors. The Red Hat Linux
User's Guide is also available freely, under the terms of the LDP
license!

STANDARDS, TESTING, AND RED HAT LINUX

Red Hat Linux continues to track both Linux and UNIX industry
standards closely. Red Hat Linux conforms to the Linux File System
Standard (FSSTND), and tracks many other Linux and UNIX standards.

Testing is probably Linux's greatest strength and the origin of its
remarkable stability for most applications, and Red Hat Linux benefits
from this. The truly open development model followed by Linus
Torvalds and the Linux development community allows new releases of
the kernel, components, and distributions to be tested by hundreds of
thousands of users. Their access to everything at little or no cost,
including full source code, from many sites on the Internet enables
anyone to contribute to further development by not just reporting bugs
but contributing patches.

Red Hat Linux depends on this open development model. We post Red Hat
Linux as "freely redistributable" software for free download off of many
sites on the Internet, and we are grateful for the valuable assistance
we receive.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has decided
to stop charging for their POSIX Conformance Test Suite 151-2, in
hopes that the POSIX standard may be more broadly applied. Red Hat
Software applauds the move, and has obtained the suites for
consideration. We would encourage all Linux developers to take
advantage of this development. Comments and questions can be directed
to Martha Gray at NIST.

A STABLE SOFTWARE PLATFORM AND A RAPIDLY EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY

Red Hat's software packaging scheme (RPM) provides the reliable and
consistent installation on a stable environment that ISV's are looking
for, and yet allows for a flexible environment for further Linux
development.

RPM's advanced software packaging features enable RPM packaged
software to be installed easily and correctly on any Red Hat Linux
platform. Running older software versions on a new release of Red Hat
Linux is generally reliable and trouble free.

FREELY REDISTRIBUTABLE SOFTWARE

Red Hat Linux is released as freely redistributable software under the
terms of the GPL. This allows anyone to use Linux without restriction
and to contribute to Linux development. It also prevents anyone or
any corporation from restricting access to Linux or Linux source code.
Commercially licensed software can be ported to Linux while
maintaining the license terms that the author uses for any other
platform.

RPM - RED HAT PACKAGE MANAGER

After installing Red Hat Linux once, you will never need to reinstall
Linux again! Our RPM packaging system is sophisticated enough to
allow upgrading to new Red Hat Linux releases without reinstalling
your system - no partitioning, no backing up all your files, no
headaches.

Red Hat Linux 4.1 is built on a third generation packaging system
called RPM. The RPM system features include smart configuration file
handling across package upgrades, "shared" file handling,
documentation searching support, and package installation via FTP.
You can install, uninstall, query, verify, and upgrade individual RPM
packages.

RPM is also a powerful software building tool. It supports reliable,
reproducable builds on mulitple platforms.

The Red Hat Software web site, http://www.redhat.com, contains more
information on RPM and the RPM-HOWTO, which describes how to use RPM
and build your own RPM packages.

A graphical package management tool called GLINT allows you to quickly
and easily manage and track your system. It displays a hierarchy of
packages represented by individual package icons, and displays
progress meters during installation.

We are releasing RPM under the terms of the GPL and we would like to
encourage everyone to use it to package their software. You can get
RPM separately from Red Hat Linux from our FTP site.

PRISTINE SOURCES

An important element of the design of Red Hat Linux is our commitment
to the concept of "pristine sources". Our RPM source packages include
pristine, untouched sources, as well as patches and a control file
which defines the building and packaging process. It enables us to
work with other members of the Linux development community easily and
effectively by clearly separating and documenting the code that they
contribute from any modifications that are required by Red Hat Linux.

FTP AVAILABILITY

Red Hat Linux is available for the Intel, Alpha, and SPARC on our
FTP site:
*ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.1/
Many sites mirror the Red Hat FTP site, and may give you much better
performance. A list of these mirrors is at:
*ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/MIRRORS
(Note that the Metro X server, Red Baron and Grail are not available
via FTP. These packages are only available with the full boxed set
product.)

RED HAT SOFTWARE WEB SITE

The Red Hat Software web site, http://www.redhat.com, contains a
wealth of helpful information, as well as a web-based ordering system
for all our products.

Of particular interest is the support section of the web site, which
includes archives of our mailing lists, errata, Red Hat TIPS, the LDP
documentation, and lots more. See
http://www.redhat.com/support/.

UPGRADING AND EXCHANGE POLICIES

All previous releases of Red Hat Linux (2.0, 2.1, 3.0.3, 4.0) can be
upgraded in place (without reformatting or repartitioning). For those
who want to upgrade, but do not want to purchase the full boxed set,
the Red Hat Linux Archives 5 CD-ROM set is the right choice. Red Hat
Linux for the Intel and Alpha are both available on the Archives
(Metro X, Red Baron, and Grail are only available with the full boxed
set).

Exchange and upgrade policies for those who purchased 4.0 recently
are best addressed by the vendor of your product. If you purchased it
directly from Red Hat Software, contact the sales office at:

You can order on the web at http://www.redhat.com/ or by calling
Red
Hat Software at (888) RED-HAT1 or (919) 572-6500. We accept Visa,
Mastercard, Discover and American Express cards.

We only ship via FedEx. Shipping cost for single copies of Red Hat
Linux is $8.95 in the US for FedEx Economy, $14.95 for FedEx Standard
Overnight. For other shipping prices please contact our sales office
(or check the web site - it'll compute the shipping price
automatically).

Resellers are encouraged to contact the following distributors for
information and volume pricing on Red Hat products.